


Vulnera Sanentur

by MarshmallowMcGonagall



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Based on a Tumblr Post, F/M, Soulmarks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:15:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24441955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarshmallowMcGonagall/pseuds/MarshmallowMcGonagall
Summary: They die once. They survive twice. They were always soulmates.Or: how it could have happened, how it should have happened, how it actually happened.
Relationships: Severus Snape/Nymphadora Tonks
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29





	Vulnera Sanentur

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this Tumblr post](https://ao3commentoftheday.tumblr.com/post/619055955238338560/gaily-daily-cries-into-the-night-i-need-a-new).

**1996 - December**

**How it could have happened:**

Hastened by a gust of snow, Tonks fell into the Hog’s Head Inn. Her knees hit the floor and she spat out sawdust as she clambered up. Someone in a cloak, hood pulled low, extended their hand and helped her up. She murmured her thanks and let herself be led, past the crowded tables of patrons intent on not seeing what was happening around them, to a booth where the shadows were deep enough to offer a semblance of privacy. Aberforth put two glasses of Firewhisky on the table then walked away.

Tonks downed her Firewhisky. Snape contemplated taking his time, then followed her lead. The pull towards each other—there since they woke having dreamed of one another on the summer solstice—was getting worse. Stronger, she always said, not worse. His low laugh always made her desires worse. Was there any point fighting it? Let sleeping legends lie, and let themselves get laid, she suggested. One night, he said. She smirked. Maybe two, he conceded.

**How it should have happened:**

He arrived late at Grimmauld Place and stood beside her near the parlour door. She was usually the one running late. He would point out that other Order members were capable of being prompt. Why on earth was it beyond her? She would sit beside him and mention she had a habit of being held up by Death Eaters.

They should have been the first to leave but the Christmas party for the Order was to follow the meeting. Near the kitchen and away from the noise, Tonks ran into Snape. He grabbed her before she could fall, and they found themselves stuck. Tonks didn’t even need to look. She pointed up. This was Sirius’s house. Of course there was charmed mistletoe. 

They both knew they could free themselves easily with the flick of a wand. She leant against him and he slipped his arms around her. She pressed her lips to his. They both ignored the glow which surrounded them. Tonks pulled Snape into the kitchen and closed the door behind them.

Colloportus, she murmured, and he laughed as the lock on the door clicked into place, and she pressed her lips to his again.

**How it actually happened:**

Tonks forgot the trick step and tripped. Wincing, she held out her hand and Snape helped her up. She grumbled and climbed the rest of the steps until she could stop and sit on the floor. Snape crouched down beside her and healed the grazes on her hands.

Dumbledore was away for the night, and they were patrolling the castle. She promised she wasn’t usually so clumsy but she tripped three times before midnight. Somehow the hours disappeared. Each corridor walked was another easy conversation. They had tried to ignore the change between them since the summer solstice. But in stolen glances lay the question of, Did you feel it, too? Just fairytales, said the smile in reply.

And still, when their patrol was over, they hesitated. The unspoken wondering of perhaps one more corridor. A little more conversation. Then Tonks leaned closer and kissed Snape on the cheek before she slipped out of the castle. They both smiled as they walked away.

**1997 - August**

**How it could have happened:**

The Forbidden Forest extended beyond the boundaries of the school, and it was between the forest and the mountains that Tonks waited. 

She saw the glimmer of a Lumos from the Forest.

Let the legends be true, she wished. Let them be myths, she pleaded. Just let him be on her side, she hoped. 

She ran to him and he held her close. Tears streaked down her cheeks as she pressed her lips to his. She thought only of his lips on hers, and not how his hands moved behind her back.

The Obliviate was silent. She sagged in his arms, unconscious as he wove the magic through her mind. Then he lifted her up and Apparated to the fields near Lupin Cottage. He lowered her gently to the ground then Disapparated.

The Forbidden Forest let him walk undisturbed on his return. Was it a mistake? The Forest knew but it was too late now. Let the legends be wrong, he wished. Let her forget, he pleaded. Let her survive, he hoped.

**How it should have happened:**

Under the full moon, she could see him coming, and she leapt up from the rocks near the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She jumped into his arms and he held her close. Both struggled to breathe, to speak, to kiss.

No one bothered to argue when Tonks said she would be the one to rendezvous with Snape. Though Sirius did suggest she take a thick cloak. Something nice to lie on. She’d jinxed him, then laughed. The plans Dumbledore left behind were going as hoped, and though there was the occasional moment when everyone wanted to curse him, they knew the end of the war was in sight. 

Snape handed over the rolls of parchment before Tonks led him back towards the Forest. She had no plans to lie down. She did however have plans which involved being up against a tree. She made a mental note to thank Sirius later. The cloak did stop the bark from digging into her back while she and Snape made the most of their time together. 

**How it actually happened:**

Tonks had metamorphosed so she could pick up supplies from Diagon Alley. When she came face to face with Snape in the apothecary, no disguise could cover the way she looked at him. He inclined his head towards a deserted corner of the shop and she followed him. 

She metamorphosed back to herself, held out her right arm and pushed up the sleeve. He held out his right arm and pushed up the sleeve. The marks matched. They pushed their sleeves down, trying to quell their surprise at how intense the marks were in each other’s presence. The marks which had been emerging over the past few months.

She swore and stepped closer, taking his face in her hands, and pressed her lips to his. Old Magic dismissed for too long swept through them. She pulled away and gasped for breath. Even he was breathing heavily. She met his dark gaze and kissed him again. He stopped her long after he knew he should have.

He told her to go while she still could.

She metamorphosed and left, collapsing to the ground outside Lupin Cottage after she Apparated. The Old Magic was real. And they were on different sides.

**1998 - May**

**How it could have happened:**

The castle was in the chaotic grip of celebrating a war won and apprehending criminals.

He had been on their side. He had been in the battle. Where had he gone? Running through the castle, asking everyone she met if they had seen him, her head darted around when she heard his name mentioned. 

She couldn’t ignore the dreams any longer. The dreams which weren’t dreams but memories coming back to her in waking hours. Every day more returned. The tendrils of magic became certainties she couldn’t shake. Old Magic. Old Magic which meant—

She found him and fell to her knees at his side. His name on her lips. Over and over. No heartbeat. The pull towards him ebbing away, her hands grasping his robes, the creeping emptiness sweeping around her. The fragments of their bond were a treasure and an agony. Then the bond was severed. Fragments gone. Nothing left.

Her heaving sobs drowned out the muttered Killing Curse. The jet of green light hit her in the back, and she was silenced. The Death Eater lurking in the shadows walked away from the soulmates.

Tonks’s body lay slumped over Snape’s.

**How it should have happened:**

The Great Hall erupted in cheers and shouts. Tonks burst into tears and Snape pulled her into a hug. They swayed on the spot. The war was over. She embraced friends and family briefly before coming back to him, unwilling to be away for long after too many months apart.

Tonks put her arms around Snape's neck, and asked if he would have believed she was his soulmate without the spell which revealed what everyone around them apparently already knew.

Always, he murmured, before kissing her again as Remus told Sirius he really needed to let this go. They all survived, and that was all that mattered.

**How it actually happened:**

Tonks ran across the grounds of Hogwarts, her feet slamming against the dry grass, and paid no heed to the injuries, the agony, the pain of knowing what was slipping away from her. All she thought of was the pull which told her where to run.

She ran into the Shrieking Shack and called his name. He was on the floor in a pool of blood.

Vulnera Sanentur.  
Vulnera Sanentur.  
Vulnera Sanentur.

Her voice a song and magic of its own, the wounds healed. His eyes were still open, the glint still there. He watched her as she pulled him back from the brink. Her hand found his, and bloodied fingers intertwined. Their glances said no, this hadn't been a fairytale, had it. Her lips pressed gently to his, and their kiss said yes, they were soulmates, weren't they.


End file.
